During the landmark case at the High Court, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) faced the government in a judicial review of the decision to continue licensing arms exports to Saudi Arabia despite the kingdom’s widely criticized offensive in Yemen.

It was argued that British arms exports are not compatible with UK and EU legislation because they have been used illegally to kill Yemeni civilians.

The judicial review decision is expected to be handed down in the coming weeks or months.

During the case, the director general of security policy at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Peter Watkins, revealed the UK had trained Saudis in Britain and in Saudi Arabia.

“In the context of their air operations this has included training them in the use of specific precision-guided munitions, such as Paveway IV and Storm Shadow, and aircraft,” he said.

“In addition, the RAF have provided four International Targeting Courses for RSAF [Royal Saudi Air Force] pilots, analysts and other personnel involved in targeting, to improve their targeting processes and support IHL compliance.”

There were four courses which ran over three weeks, it was revealed. The first course was in July 2015, and the last was in August 2016. Watkins said 58 people took part.